Everton have the second meanest defence in the Premier League this season and their work at the back is something that has been overlooked this year.

As a defender, you pride yourself on clean sheets and you could see how made up his team-mates were when Howard saved brilliantly from Rooney near the end.

We have two international full-backs in Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines, the vast experience of Sylvain Distin who is fantastic for his age, the club captain and England player Phil Jagielka, young John Stones who has a great future and Antolin Alcaraz who came in and was outstanding against United when he came on.

The Blues have only been trounced once this season and that came at Anfield where we were well and truly beaten.

Under David Moyes we were solid defensively and we’ve continued that this season under Roberto Martinez.

We’re expecting to hear news of Distin’s hamstring injury today and if he is to be ruled out for the remainder of the season then it will be a blow.

But I have no qualms about Alcaraz keeping his place in the team.

The manager would not have brought him to the club if he wasn’t a good player and this is another chance for Antolin to show the Everton fans what he is all about.

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The Editor

Mark Thoma

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.